Revolving turret for motor-cars.



J. W. DE COU.

REVOLVING TURRET FOR MOTOR CARS. APPLICATION mgo FEB. 11. I915.

1,140364. v 4 Patented May 25, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l- J. W. DE COU. REVOLVING TURRET FOR MOTOR CARS.APPLICATION mzo FEB. 11, 1915.

Patent-ed May 25, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- diwg fi... 52 19 ii J 1 r i I w s j/weu/ UNITED STATESPATENT OFFICE.

JERRY W. DE COU, OF KENOSHA, WISCONSIN, ASSIGNOR TO THE THOMAS B. JEFFERY COMPANY, OF KENOSHA, WISCONSIN, A CORPORATION OF WISCONSIN.

REVOLVING TURRET FOR MOTOR-CARS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 25, 1915.

Application filed February 11, 1915. Serial No. 7,646.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JERRY W. DE CoU, a citizen of the United States,residing at Kenosha, in the county of Kenosha and State of Wisconsin,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Revolving Turretsfor Motor-Cars, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates broadly to a revolving turret but more particularlyto a turret adapted to be used upon motor cars.

The principal object of my invention is to construct a turret that maybe easily rotated upon its axis by the operator and which will not move,to any great extent, under varying road conditions over which the motorvehicle travels.

With those turrets adapted to be mounted upon motor cars and with whichI am familiar, the top as well as the lower portion of the turret movetogether around a common axis and consequently the operator is compelledto rotate a large amount of metal. This great weight causes the turret,when the vehicle is inclined, to rotate in the direction of the appliedweight, thus throwing the gun out of aim in case the vehicle lurchesafter sight has been taken. Furthermore the great weight of the turretcauses it to bind upon its bearings when the vehicle is inclined andthus render it inoperative for a quick shift of the gun at a criticalmoment.

A further object of my invention is to construct a turret whereby theoperator may or may not rotate with the turret as the occasion mayrequire and thus the operator is able to hold the turret ina steadyposition when the Vehicle is inclined.

Other advantages of the invention will be more particularly referred toin the specification and the novel details of the invention are shown inthe accompanying drawings of which Figure 1 is a side elevational viewof my improved turret mounted upon a motor vehicle. Fig. 2 is a top viewof the turret shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional View ofFig. 2.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, the base casting 4 isprovided with a central bearing block 5 and the casting rests upon abase block 6 and is secured thereto by means of the bolts 7 which passthrough suitable apertures in the flange 8.

The block 6 rests upon the floor 9 or any race surface 14 thereon,and-the head plate 15 is provided with a race surface 16.

Interposed between the race surfaces 14 and 16 are the ball bearings 17.The head plate 15 has a plurality of braces 18 secured to it whichextend downwardly and to which is secured the shell or casing 19,forming the lower half of the movable portion of the turret. The topwall 20 of the turret is secured to the braces 18 and interposed betweenthe top wall 20 and the shell 19 is the upper shell or casing 21. Thetop wall 20 is provided with'a door 22 mounted upon the hinges 23 andthe latch 24, operable from within the turret, serves to keep the doorin closed position.

To the upper edge of the shell 11 a plurality of studs 25 are securedhaving rollers 26 mounted thereon, which are in rolling engagement withthe track 27 secured to the inside of the shell 19 near its lower edge.A shell 28 extends from the floor of the vehicle to a point below theupper edge of the shell 11 but is spaced from the shell 11 and above theupper edge of the shell 28 a circumferential flange 29 is securedto theshell 11 which overlies the upper edge of the shell 28. The flange 29serves to prevent water from entering within the turret; providesventilation and also prevents a bullet from glancing and entering theinterior of the turret. The rapid fire gun 30 may be suspended from abrace 31 that may be either secured to the top wall 20 or may be mountedupon the center axle 12. A slot 32 is formed in the shells 19 and 21through which slot the end of the rapid fire gun projects whereby thegun may be moved upon its axis, since the gun is pivotally mounted uponan axle 33, and by means of the rack gear 34 and crank 35 carrying aworm at one end in mesh with'the teeth on the rack gear 3 1. Rotatablymounted upon the center axle 12 is a sleeve 36 having bearings 37 and 38at its upper and lower ends whereby it may easily rotate around the axle12 and secured to the sleeve 36 by means of braces 39, is the seat 40.

The braces 10 are so designed as to permit the seat LO to swing freelywithin the turret and entirely independent of the upper or revolubleportion of the turret. l0 afford a foot rest for the operator wherebythe operator may hold himself in fixed position and thus move the revoluble portion of the turret at will.

By so constructing the turret that only the upper section is movable,the weight of the movable section is greatly reduced and thus there islittle tendency for the turret to rotate in the direction of the appliedweight when the vehicle is inclined. Furthermore, the weight of theturret is such that, even though the machine gun may be mounted upon it,it may be easily rotated by the operator and by reason of the rollers26, there is no liability of the upper section of the turret binding.

Having now described my invention, I claim:

1. A revolving turret for motor vehicles comprising, a base, supportssecured to said base, a vertical axle, a two part turret one part ofwhich is secured to said supports and the other part revolubly mountedon said axle and a seat revolubly mounted on said axle.

2. A revolving turret for motor vehicles comprising, a base, supportssecured thereto and extending outwardly, and upwardly from said base, a.vertical axle, a two part turret one part of which is secured to saidsupports and the other part revolubly mounted on said axle and a seatrevolubly mounted on said axle and arranged to travel above theoutwardly extended portions of said supports.

3. A revolving turret for motor vehicles comprising, a base, supportssecured there- The bracesto and extending outwardly and upwardly fromsaid base, a vertical axle secured to said base, a two part turret, onepart of which is secured to said supports and the other part revolublymounted on said axle, roller bearings secured to one part of said turretand adapted to bear against the other turret being revolubly mounted onsaid axle,

a seat revolubly mounted on said axle and a shell surrounding said baseand having its upper edge projecting above the lower edge of the fixedportion of the turret.

5. A revolving turret for motor vehicles comprising, a base, supportssecured to said base, a two part turret one part of which is fixed tosaid supports, a vertical axle mounted upon said base, the other part ofsaid turret being revolubly. mounted on said axle, a seatrevolublymounted on said axle and a shell surrounding said base and having itsupper edge projecting above the lower edge of the fixed portion of saidturret but spaced therefrom and a flange secured to said turret andoverlying the upper edge of said shell. 1

6. A revolving turret for motor vehicles comprising, a stationary turretsect-ion and a revoluble turret section, in combination with a gunadapted to revolve with said revoluble section and a seat revolublymounted withinsaid stationary section and capable of revolvingindependently of revoluble turret section.

JERRY W. DE COU. Witnesses:

FRANK R. KELLY, JoHN BJoRN.

part and a seat revolubly mounted on said-

